Forearms/Calves/Abs/Traps 3X PER WEEK

[MonStar1023]

I was curious about training Forearms/Calves/Abs/Traps 3X PER WEEK? From what I understand all 4 of these muscle groups can be trained hard and heavy 2-3x per week. I know that Arnold swore by calves everyday and thats not what I am talking about but..

I am just saying all of these muscle groups seem to be of similar fiber composition. I know many of you will argue for traps not being the same type of muscle as calves or forearms or abs but it seems that for my particular traps they are..

My traps really only respond to a lot of reps and a lotta volume. Very similarly to my calves, and abs etc. I need to do 2-3 maybe even 4 exercises with lots of reps. Incorporating trisets, and supersets into the workout...

I dont know give opinions please..


Some of the guys with the most MASSIVE forearms train theirs everyday. Same goes for traps and the other muscle groups listed.

 

[Exodus]

i will only comment on those i feel i have authority in..........

training your forarms that much would force your grip to suffer, because it will have never recovered when its back or bi day.

calves......... i still say walk on your toes everywhere you go...(including cardio if your brave enough to) and then go very heavy and low reps and sets.
i train calves once a week..........2 sets of 4-6 with up around 700 to 800 lbs on standing calve raise and 550 to 650 on donkey calve raise....... i go very slow... and get as much range as motion as i can even if i have no weight on me.

you could do calves twice a week if you wanted....... but im only doing 1 right now.... i will switch to 2 times when i start precontest training.

traps........ if hit properly stay sore for days....... i say only once per week....... because........... so much other things you do adds to their growth......... so you will just be overtraining them if you go more than once a week.......... i belive that my best growth excersize for traps are 2 things........ squats and deadlifts.

i wont even touch abbs........... you guys can debate that one

 

[ballast]

I think all the above muscle groups can be hit three times per week as long as volume and intensity are closely monitored and taken into account.You can't go all out at every session but with varying levels of intensity and workload, I believe training them frequently can be productive.
Traps-Look at the trap development of olympic-style weightlifters from collegiate to olympic level.They all have phenomenal traps and their lifting programs focus on trap specific exercises done several times per weekower cleans,power snatches,high pulls.These all heavily involve the traps due to the explosive shrugging movement required and most of these exercises are worked atleast two to three times per week, even on the collegiate level.
Forearms-In my experience, forearms can be trained 3x per week on various movements because the forearms recover so quickly.Same goes for calves.
Abs-as long as you don't train them with thousands of reps every time you train them, I think you could get away with three times per week.I'm currently warming up at every session with 2 sets of 12-20 reps on hanging leg raises and reverse hypers and it seems to be going well.
I believe it also depends on your recovery ability.Everybody is different.

 

[DaCypher]

I've heard from several sources that calves, abs, and forearms can and should be trained every workout for optimal muscular growth. As for traps, not sure. Personally I think my traps suffer because of my grip strength, so maybe I need to work on my forearms more (or less because maybe they're too tired?).

 

[MonStar1023]

BUMP for more replies..


I am going to try and train them a bunch of times per week and see what happens..

I have heard training traps 2 days in a row and then give them some time to rest..

 

[MonStar1023]

ballast & DaCypher
Have you made gains training these muscle groups 3x per week? I am curious..

 

[MonStar1023]

ballast & DaCypher
Have you made gains training these muscle groups 3x per week? I am curious..


Also: what if the muscle group is sore? Should I wait a few more days..?

 

[ballast]

Monstar-I've never made good gains on any calf frequency.The only thing that works for me is sprints.Calves are currently on the back burner right now.I've just started 3x per week ab training so I can't comment on them just yet.I've made good gains on working forearms and traps 2-3 times per week.I followed my friend's strongman routine and we did trap bar deads with a shrug on one day.One or two other days per week we did power cleans or hang snatches.These work the traps, but they hit the rest of the back pretty well too.Even so, I saw good development in my traps.As for a sore muscle, I'd either train it with a lighter movement for give it additional rest days.If I'm sore and I hit the same muscle, I tend to overtrain.Hope this helps.

 

[DaCypher]

I've been using High Intesity Training (http://boards.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69270) for several weeks now and I really like it. My results with doing these three groups each workout might be somewhat skewed because I've changed my whole routine. I've definetly noticed excellent changes in calves and forearms. As for abs, well, they're a bitch.

 

[MonStar1023]

Bump.